Gage pole or rod.



, No. 776,426. PATENTED NOV. 29, 1904.

F. ROBINSON;

GAGE POLE 0R ROD.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13. 1904.

NO MODEL.

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NITE STATES Patented November 29, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

GAGE POLE OR ROD.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent N o. 7 76,426, datedNovember 29, 1904.

Application filed July 13, 1904:. Serial No. 216,412. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FORSTER ROBINSON, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Sistersville, in the county of Tyler and State ofest Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in GagePoles or Rods, of which the following is a specification,

reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to gage poles and rods, and has for itsobject to provide a collapsible pole that may be folded into a compactform, thereby making it easier to carry by the person using the same.

Another object of my invention is the provision of novel means wherebypoles and rods of this character may be folded so as to form adiminutive package that may be conveniently carried, and in connectionwith poles of this character I employ novel means for retaining thepoles in their extended position when being used.

Briefly described, my invention resides in forming gage poles or rods ofa plurality of sections and hinging said sections together, whereby theymay be folded upon one another, means being provided to secure the looseends of said pole together, also means whereby when the pole is extendedit will be rigidly and firmly held. Upon. the opposite face of the poleto which it is hinged and adjacent to the ends of the hinged sections Ipro vide a slotted plate which is adjusted upon one section of the poleby a thumb-nut, and

this slotted plate is adapted to engage a headed pin or bolt carried bythe other section and firmly hold the two sections rigid. Upon the endof one of these sections I provide a headed belt which is adjusted insaid section by a thumb-nut, and the head of said boltis adapted toengage the end of the other hinged section and hold said section firmlyin engagement against the section to which it is hinged.

The above construction will hereinafter be more fully described, andspecifically pointed out in the claims, and referring to the drawingsaccompanying this application like numerals of reference indicatecorresponding parts throughout the several views, in which- Figure l isa side elevation of a gage pole or rod which is composed of twosections, this view illustrating the pole in its extended position. Fig.2 is a top plan view of the pole as illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aside elevation view of the pole in its collapsed or folded position.Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation view of the locking-bolt employed tosecure the loose ends of the pole together. Fig. 5 is a detailperspective view of the slotted plate employed to hold the hingedsections of the pole in an extended position, and Fig. 6 is anunderneath plan view of the pole or rod as constructed in accordancewith my invention.

To put my invention into practice, I employ a gage pole or rod which ispreferably formed of two sections 1 and 2; yet I wish it to beunderstood that the gage pole or rod may be made of a plurality ofsections and secured together and locked in their different positions,as will be hereinafter described. The two sectionsl and 2 are preferablyhinged together, as designated by the reference-numeral 3, and upon thebase of the sections upon which the hinges 4 4 are secured I provide thegraduations 5'upon the edges of the gage pole or red.

Upon the opposite side of the gage-pole to which the hinges are securedI mount a slotted plate 6, this plate being provided with a slot 7 inits body portion, and the one end of said plate is beveled, as indicatedat 8, this beveled end being provided with a slot 9, formingsubstantially a crowfoot upon the end of the plate. The one hingedsection of the gagepole is provided with ascrew-threaded pin or bolt 10,which is located adjacent to the hinged end of the section 2 andcentrally of said section, and when the plate 6 is placed upon thesection 2 the pin 10 is adapted to protrude through the slot 7 and havesecured on its screw-threaded end a winged thumb-nut 11, this nut beingemployed to engage the upper face of the plate and lock the same in anyposition to which it may be adjusted upon said section. Upon the othersection 1 I provide a pin or bolt 12, which carries a head 13, this pinbeing located centrally upon the member land in longitudinal alinementwith the pin or bolt 10. When the gage pole or rod is in an extendedposition, as illustrated in Figs.

1 and 2 of the drawings, the beveled and slotted end of the plate 6 isadapted to engage the pin 12, the end of the plate being beveled tofacilitate the movement of the plate into engagement with the pin, thepin 12 being adapted to pass into the slot 9 until the head 13 of thepin or bolt 12 becomes impinged upon the top surface of the plate.

To fold the gage pole or rod in its collapsible position, the wingedthumb-nut 11 is loosened, whereby the plate 6 .may be moved rearwardlyuntil the beveled end 8 of said plate has become disengaged from the pinor bolt 12 and passed on to the section 2 of the pole, at which time thewinged thumb-nut 11 is rotated to again engage the plate and retain thesame in this position, which is shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Inorder that the section 2 of the gage-pole may be held and locked in itscollapsible position, I preferably form the section 2 of a shorterlength than the section 1that is, in making the pole I unequally dividethe same, forming one section of the pole of a greater length than theother-and upon the longer of the two sections I provide looking meansfor retaining the shorter section in its collapsed position. Formed inthe outer end of the section 1 and centrally thereof I provide anorifice 14, in which is mounted the locking-bolt 15, this bolt havingformed on its one end screw-threads 16, upon which is placed the Wingedthumb-nut 17. The other end of the bolt is provided with an angular head18, and when the section 2 is folded upon the section 1 the angular head18 is adapted to engage the loose end of the section 2, as designated at19, the winged thumb-nut being rotated until it has drawn the angularhead into engagement with the end of the section 2 and secured the samefirmly against the section 1. I have provided the orifice 14 of agreater diameter than the bolt 15, whereby the same may be movedrearwardly when the winged thumb-nut is loosened to permit the section 2to be returned to its normal or extended position.

The bolt 15 is only employed when the gage pole or rod is to be carriedfor some distance before it is used, and when the pole is in an extendedposition and ready to be used for measuring purposes this bolt iswithdrawn and may be carried in the pocket of the person manipulatingthe pole.

It will be readily observed from the drawings, taken in connection withthe description thereof, that the mechanism employed for retaining thehinged sections of the pole in an extended position and the means forlocking the two ends of the pole when folded may be employed inconnection with any article that consists of one or more hingedsections, and

for this reason I do not care to limit myself to a gage pole or rod, butmay readily employ the same upon articles which are collapsible.

hat I claim is 1. In a pole, the combination of two sections, a hingeconnecting the sections together, a plate having alongitudinally-disposed closed slot and asimilarly-disposed open-endedslot, said plate overlapping the joint between the sections, a screwcarried by one section and projecting through said closed slot, a nutcarried by said screw, and a headed pin carried by the other of saidsections and projecting through said open-ended slot.

2. In a pole, the combination with two sections adapted to fold one uponthe other, of a slotted plate having abeveled end and adjustably mountedupon one of said sections, a headed pin carried by the other of saidsections, and adapted to pass through a slot in the beveled end of saidplate.

3. In a gage-pole, the combination with two' hinged sections, a slottedend-beveled plate adjustably mounted upon one of said sections, a pincarried by the other of said sections and adapted to engage said plate,an angular bolt mounted in the end of one of said sections and adaptedto engage the end of the other section when in a folded position,substantially as described.

4;. A gage-pole composed of two hinged sections of unequal length hingedtogether, in combination with a headed bolt passing through a slot inthe end of the longer section, the head of the bolt being adapted toextend over the outer surface of the shorter section, and a nut carriedby said bolt and adapted to draw the head of the bolt into contact withthe said shorter section.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

' FORSTER ROBINSON.

IVitnesses:

A. R. FoRsTER, NELL Gr. BLACK.

